Close up

    I think there's an assumption when photographing animals (or anything else for that matter) that you need to get eye contact. If not eye contact then at least the head and shoulders should be in the shot. I disagree. There are many areas of interest on an animals body and it is a mistake to ignore them. The classic photo of a dog is taken from a fairly high angle with the animal looking up at the camera. This is fine but it is slightly unnatural. Much better to take the shot from their point of view. Get on your knees, it's the only way. Once you do this you start to notice some interesting stuff. This is a shot of my dogs knee. His hair here has this kink to it. It's always been there and seeing it reminds me of him every bit as much as a head shot. There is a lot going to in a shot like this. In a typical headshot there is a tendency to look at the eyes. It's instinctive and we do it all the time but it can be distracting. In a more abstract image the rules are different. You have to search for some meaning and in doing so tend to find some more interesting answers.

Border Terrier

     Here is another example. At home in the evening my dog generally sits on my lap. We both watch TV or I use my laptop and he has a snooze, whatever, the thing is that this is my view of him. I probably spend more time staring at the back of his head than I do at the front. I know every scruffy hair. This is therefore a very interesting area for me and certainly represents Baxter as well, if not better, than taking a picture of his face.

Border Terrier Fringe

    This abstract shot is of one of those modern breeds that once upon a time would have been called a cross but are now given full billing with their very own name. In this case Labradoodle. Naturally this is a blend of Poodle and Labrador. They seem to come in all shapes and sizes. This particular one has a strong poodle gene which means it has this amazing curly coat. It's almost exactly like the Astracan material my Grandmothers best jacket was made from. This is an example of a shot that relies as much on what is left out as what is included. Most of the frame is empty which kind of distils your focus and makes what little is included seem even more important. Well that's the idea anyway.

Labradoodle

Sphynx Cat

    Since i've just posted a hairless dog it seems reasonable to mention the hairless cat too. The Sphynx - baldest of all the cats. I hadn't photographed a cat before, never been particularly interested in them. After meeting these ones I did change my mind a wee bit. Not least because when they play fight with each other it sounds like an episode of Benny Hill. There is no fur to soften the blows so they jump in, dish out a volley of slaps, and jump to safety. Very entertaining.

Sphynx Cats

Sphynx Cats

Mexican Hairless ( Xoloitzcuintle )

   Think I might start posting a new breed every day. Or at least every week depending on time. Going to start with one of the more unusual breeds i've photographed - The Mexican Hairless or Xoloitzcuintle. 

Mexican Hairless

 I'd always thought these dogs were the same breed as Chinese Crested, which I'm sure must be considered very bad form amongst Mexican Hairless breeders. I'd wanted to photograph one for a while but you just don't see them. There are in fact only about 65 individual animals on the country. The ones featured here belonged to a woman who had seven. This must make her the leading expert on the breed, or at least the keenest. She was very reluctant to give me access to them at first. They had never been photographed by anyone and she was concerned I may want to make the images funny or ridicule them because of their appearance. Apparently Hoover had once contacted her to see if they could use them for in advert in which the powerful new cleaner would appear to have sucked off their fur. This is the last thing I wanted to do. I think they are beautiful animals and after spending a few hours with them I would go as far as say I wanted one. In fact the one pictured below could have gladly come home with me that day. It does look a little bit like Dobby the House Elf from Harry Potter but in a good way.

Mexican Hairless

Happy New Year

   The start of a new year and I just found this picture from High Voltage Festival. This is a now defunct musical gathering for people who still  like Deep Purple and Black Sabbath. It seems like the perfect celebratory photo to start 2012. 

   The picture itself is of the fan club for a band called Black Label Society. I've seen tons of music photo's over the years and I've lost count of the number where someone is flipping the bird. It's a total rock and roll cliche and always leaves me cold. This one seems different. I think it must be the amount of people and the sheer joy they feel responding to the camera. I didn't ask them to react like this. They just got straight into character and gave me the sticks as one. There was no malice in any of them. If I remember rightly we were all screaming and laughing at the same time.

Black Label Society fans

    At the same festival I found these two characters. These guys are great. I was watching ZZ Top perform a blistering set when I had a look round to see what was going on behind me. There they were - loves young dream. I took about twenty shots and they never moved. I'd love to know what they were both thinking about. Safe to assume it wasn't ZZ Top.

Loves Young Dream